The International Hellenic University organized a conference on

Modern Information Systems

Wireless Telecommunications Issues

took place on

Tuesday, 23 March 2010, in the University Auditorium at 5:30 p.m.

Download the Conference's commemorative issue (13 MB)

Download the Conference's Press Release (greek version)

As part of the Conference entitled “Modern Information Systems and Wireless Telecommunications Issues” that took place on Tuesday, 23 March, at the International Hellenic University (IHU), the new postgraduate programme was presented by the School of Science & Technology. The MSc in Information & Communication Technology Systems commences in the next academic year, 2010-11.

The Conference was organised in cooperation with the Greek Chapters of the ΙΕΕΕ Vehicular Technology & Aerospace-Electronics and Communications Societies and was held in the central Auditorium of the University in Thermi, Thessaloniki. 350 people attended the workshop, including university professors, researchers, students and business executives and organizations. The conference featured interesting presentations on cutting edge aspects of modern ICT systems and the audience addressed questions to the distinguished panels.

Professor Christophoros Koutitas, Deputy Chairman of the Governing Board IHU, greeted the audience and referred to the six (6) postgraduate courses offered by IHU, which attract a significant number of students from abroad. More specifically, the Executive MBA programme, launched in March 2008 by the School of Economics & Business Administration, has increased the proportion of foreign students to over 40% of the January 2010 intake, despite the international financial crisis.

The conference was opened by the Secretary General of Macedonia & Thrace, Professor George Hatzikonstantinou, who stressed the importance the Government places on higher education and its intention to strengthen the outward-looking nature of IHU. According to Mr. Hatzikonstantinou, Greek Universities and IHU should be further supported to become more competitive on an international level.

Greetings were sent by the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Decentralisation & E-government, Ms. Theodora Tzakri, who was unable to attend due to a Ministerial Cabinet meeting.  The Minister sent a written greeting stating that “as a Government, we have set as a goal to implement an innovative model of governance through the use of information and communication technologies. This model puts an end to the lack of both transparency and meritocracy; it provides citizens with the opportunity to contribute in the government’s task of drafting legislation, drawing attention to their suggestions and comments.”

The Dean of the School of Science & Technology, Professor Ioannis Vlahavas, Governing Board Member of IHU and Professor in the Department of Informatics, Aristotle University, presented the new postgraduate programme “MSc in International and Communication Technology Systems”. The School offers two postgraduate programmes of study, the above-mentioned and the MSc in Energy Systems, for both of which the application process is open until September 2010. The new postgraduate programme in Information & Communication Technology Systems is a 12-month course targeting students, business executives who wish to broaden their expertise within four (4) streams of specializations: a) Management of Information Systems, b) Management of Communication Systems, c) Health Information Systems and d) Information Systems for Sustainable Growth.

The Conference Panels brought out some current ICT issues in the interesting presentations of the distinguished speakers. Specifically, the Secretary-General for Communications of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks, Professor Sokrates Katsikas (Digital Systems Department, University of Piraeus) spoke on digital security issues and the challenges facing modern information systems.

The Director of the Informatics & Telematics Institute (ITI), CERTH, Professor Maria Petrou of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Imperial College London, spoke on applications of digital image processing in the medical diagnosis of various diseases, such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, and in the estimation of cancerous tumors’ size and limits.

Professor Constantine Stephanidis, the Director of the Institute of Computer Science at the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, spoke on the rapidly evolving and complex field of “Ambient Intelligence”, which aims to integrate artificial intelligence and computer technologies in the general environment if they are to meet the everyday information and communication needs of man in an “invisible” way.

The second panel focused on Modern Wireless Communications. Professor Fotini-Niovi Pavlidou, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, and Chair of IEEE VTS & AES Greece Chapter, introduced the second part of the workshop, stressing the need for standardization and convergence of wireless communications technologies.

Professor John N. Sahalos, Radio Laboratory Director, Department of Physics, Aristotle University discussed the evaluation of Electromagnetic Radiation in Thessaloniki and Athens as well as the rest of Greece using measuring stations and networks through the “Hermes”, “Pedion24” and “Fasma” Projects.

Mr. Kostas Vasileou, Senior Manager Radio Systems, Technology Division, Vodafone – Panafon S.A, described the current architecture of mobile networks and wireless communications services with emphasis on Long Term Evolution Networks.

Scientific Supervision: Professor I. Vlahavas and Professor F.N. Pavlidou

Download the Conference Programme (greek version)

Conference Programme and presentations

17.30 Welcome Speech

Costas Th. Grammenos
Chairman of the Governing Board IHU
Professor, CASS Business School, City University, UK

17.35 Welcoming Speech - Talk

Theodora Tzakri
Deputy Minister of Interior, Decentralisation & E-government

Part I: Modern Information Systems

17.45 Presentation of the new IHU Postgraduate Programme "MSc in ICT Systems"

Ioannis Vlahavas - Download presentation
Dean, School of Science and Technology, IHU
Governing Board Member, IHU

Professor, Department of Informatics, Aristotle University

18.00 Information Systems Security

Socrates Katsikas - Download presentation

Secretary-General for Communications

Professor, Digital Systems Department, University of Piraeus

18.20 Applications in Medical Imaging Systems in Health Information Systems

Maria Petrou - Download presentation

Director, Informatics & Telematics Institute (ITI), CERTH

Professor, Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Imperial College London.

18.40 Environments and Applications of Ambient Intelligence

Constantine Stephanidis - Download presentation

Director of the Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas.

Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Crete

Scientific Supervision: Professor I. Vlahavas

19.00 Break

Part II: Wireless Telecommunications Issues

19.30 Modern Wireless Communications Systems

Fotini-Niovi Pavlidou - Download presentation

Chair of IEEE VTS & AES Greece Chapter

Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Aristotle University, Thessaloniki

19.40 Presentation of the Projects “Pedion24”, “FASMA” and “Hermes”

John N. Sahalos - Download presentation

Director of Radio-Communications Laboratory

Professor, Department of Physics, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki

20.00 Mobile Communications: Technological Developments and Prospects

Kostas Vasileiou - Download presentation

Radio Systems Senior Manager

Technology Division

Vodafone – Panafon S.A.

Scientific Supervision: Professor F.N. Pavlidou